Live Review: Maddie Southorn at the Salutation, Doncaster

The guests at the Sal just get better and better and tonight was no exception, in fact I think the club probably peaked in terms of talent and value for money. We saw a relaxed and assured performance from Maddie Southorn and her accompanist Janet Martin, a rather fine cellist.



Singing a pretty even balance of material from her two albums - Unlikely Prom Queen and Pilgrim Soul - as well as one or two traditional songs and choice covers, Maddie and Janet presented an evening of tightly arranged and well crafted songs. Maddie demonstrated just how beautiful her voice is in it's most purest form, that is in the two unaccompanied songs of the evening, Joni Mitchell's The Fiddle and the Drum and the traditional She Moves Through the Fair, opening each of the two sets respectively. Her own songs are rich in melody and lyrical content, sometimes whimsical but never predictable. From Snowman, which could easily replace the one we suffer each Christmas by the Jones kid, to the heavily Kate Bush inspired But Very Natural, my particular favourite of the night, which proved above all that this songwriter belongs in the big league. Maddie weaved some haunting melodies, making sure the audience didn't second guess exactly where she would take the song next. Her song of disenchanted relationships Messiah for example, perfectly suited the Dave Brubeckesque Take Five 5/4 structure, but that's getting too technical for now. Suffice it to say, it was a jolly good and unmissable evening.